DIY Wednesday: Roman Shades

Hi There,

This is a little DIY. I wanted to have all the windows in the kitchen have the same sort of window treatment. So, I purchased these roman shades from Overstock.com. (It was the cheapest website I found for this type of shade..about $14.99 per shade and only $3.00 in shipping)

When you put up bamboo-like shades, you have to be prepared that they are see through. It's just the nature of the product. You often can purchase pieces of fabric to Velcro to the back called, "privacy shade." Why buy this privacy shade when I have loads of fabric sitting around?

So, I grabbed some of that fun Hobby Lobby fabric I had sitting around and a needle and thread. I didn't bother hemming around the fabric. I just tucked it under and put the thread through both layers. For about $15.00 a curtain, I think I did pretty good!



Here's the front of the curtain in my very orange kitchen.



Here's the view of the curtain from the enclosed porch.

Siding of House

Hi Everyone!

This is a project has has been a year in the making. My house finally has siding! My dad, uncle (Keith Starkweather...great handy man out of Dow City, IA...I recommend him to anyone and everyone..he knows his stuff! E-mail me for his information!), brother and husband all took turns working on the house. All the work was done in two weekends.

To be honest, the only DIY part of this project I did was pick the trim color. It's called "prairie wheat."



"Before" Picture This the back of the house. Don't you love the green trim?


Another picture of the back of the house.


"After" Picture. This is the front of the house.

Polka Dot BBQ

A couple of weeks ago I had a Back to School BBQ, and I had the misfortune of scheduling during Ribfest here in town. No matter, I had a good group of people, and we enjoyed ourselves. I created the Polka Dot theme based off the Polka Dot fabric I love from Hobby Lobby. BTW. Hobby Lobby has many of its fabric designs available in matching scrapbook paper.

Sorry about the blur...this is the whole spread with the canopy, lights, and decorations. We were in the mist of siding so that's the deal with the trailer.




Napkin rolls. I cut up the matching scrapbook paper and made the rolls from there. I tried to be a bit "green" with recycled paper napkins, recycled plastic silverware and biodegradable sugarcane plates.



One of the table settings..the other had a full tablecloth with a polka dot table runner. All no sew by folding edges under and securing with binder clips to the table.



Napkin rolls in my pretty new thrift store bowl. (got to love 10 cent bowls!)



Paper lanterns hanging from tree...isn't that shed ugly?!? I'm hoping the shed goes bye bye in a few weeks.



Closer picture of the paper lanterns (and my DIY bean bag game and DIY fenced in area for our dogs!)

I didn't get a picture, but I also had bowls and serving platters in the colors of the polka dot fabric. I also used the scrapbook paper to decorate the table for the buffet dinner.

I think the polka dot theme would be great for a baby shower. It's fun and playful and unisex!